What are the laws regarding harassment?
State and federal law prohibit sexual discrimination, and sexual harassment is a form or a type of sexual discrimination. The law prohibits harassment in employment even if there is no direct financial harm. – Top of page – How do you define a hostile work environment? If there is no economic injury, the unwelcome conduct must be severe and pervasive; it alters the condition of the victim’s employment. To determine whether the words and actions meet the criteria of a hostile work environment, courts look at the frequency of the conduct, the severity, whether it unreasonably interfered with work performance, whether it was physically threatening or humiliating. The impact of the victim’s psychological well-being may also be considered. Courts have held that trivial offenses and merely offensive words are insufficient to constitute a hostile work environment. – Top of page – How frequent or severe does the conduct have to be for it to constitute a hostile work environment? Not to sound f
